kylekolanofandomcom-20200213-history
Computer Maintenance Wiki
Welcome to the Computer Maintanence Wiki Learn simple tricks to enhance the life and performance of your computer. You can look at my eportfolio here https://www.kylekolano.blogspot.com Experience I have taken courses throughout high school and college specializing with computer maintenance along with computer hardware and software to ensure the best performance for your computer. I have also had work experience repairing computers in the past with troubleshooting common issues and clearing up clutter and unwanted programs. How to clean your computer and prevent overheating 1 Gather supplies. Buy a can of compressed air, for blowing particles out of sensitive areas, Q-Tips and rubbing alcohol, and small or medium-sized Phillips-tip and flat-tip screwdrivers from a hardware store. Have paper towels, lint-free rags, and water on hand. If you're cleaning a netbook, notebook, or laptop, opt for small screwdrivers. Desktop computers are likely to need medium-small screwdrivers instead. There's no need to buy special “computer screwdrivers,” in most cases. 2 Turn off your computer. This means shutting down the computer completely and unplugging the cord from the back of the tower. If you own a laptop instead, shut it down completely, unplug any power cords from it, turn it upside down, and remove the battery. 3 Open your computer. Over time, the air vent that helps regulate your computer's temperature can get clogged with dust, causing the CPU to overheat and malfunction. To clean it, you'll need to open your computer's case. To open a desktop computer, look for fasteners along the back or sides of the tower. These may be simple screws, or any of a number of other mechanisms. Some computers even have a sliding side panel for easy access. If you can't figure out what fastener your computer uses, consult the manual or check online. You can't open a laptop computer completely without extra tools, but you won't need to. To get to the vent, look for a panel with screws in it on the bottom of the laptop. Unscrew the panel and the vent should come with it. Be very careful to note the length and position of each screw, as they tend to vary between one another. 4 Clean the vents. Start with Q-tips or a pair of tweezers, and remove all of the larger dust bunnies and other dust you see. Follow through by spraying compressed air to chase the rest of the dust out of the vents. Spray it everywhere else you can reach, too, taking care to keep the nozzle a few inches away from the components and I/O ports (plug holes for various cords). Don't forget to pop open your optical drives and briefly spray them out. Obviously, the goal is to remove crumbs and dust, not push them farther into your computer. Be mindful of this as you aim your compressed air. Compressed air can hurt sensitive components if overused. Always spray in short bursts rather than a sustained stream. It may be acceptable to gently tilt your laptop to encourage difficult particles to roll closer to where you can flush them out, but don't ever shake or slap it. You could loosen delicate parts. 5 Close and clean the case. Put every part you opened or removed back in its proper place and close up your computer again. Once that's done, take a duster, a dry microfiber cloth, or some dry paper towels and brush obvious dust and dirt off of all sides of the computer case. Follow through by dipping one tip of a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol and running it along every seam and edge of your machine. As you finish a line, turn the swab over and dry it with the dry end. Change swabs as often as you need to until the job is done. Don't skip! 6 Finish up. Allow every part to dry completely, then reassemble your setup and plug your computer back in. Don't forget to reattach any peripherals, such as a monitor, you might have removed while cleaning. When you're ready, start the computer up as normal. Repeat this cleaning regimen every few months or as needed. **NOTE** Don't use a vacuum cleaner on your keyboard or any other components, especially if you're using a laptop. The vacuum can create a static charge that could damage components. How to defrag/defragment your hard drive 1 Open Disk Defragmenter by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Disk Defragmenter, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Defragmenter. Alternatively, you can go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter 2 Under Current status, select the disk you want to defragment. 3 To determine if the disk needs to be defragmented or not, click Analyze disk. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. Once Windows is finished analyzing the disk, you can check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk in the Last Runcolumn. If the number is above 10%, you should defragment the disk. 4 Click Defragment disk. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. **NOTE** Disk Defragmenter might take from several minutes to a few hours to finish, depending on the size and degree of fragmentation of your hard disk. You can still use your computer during the defragmentation process. Resources and references Here I have links to where I have obtained my information or images about the topics covered. Cleaning your computer: Retrieved April 29, 2014 from the How to Wiki: http://www.wikihow.com Disk Defragmentation: Retrieved May 5, 2014 from Microsoft: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/improve-performance-defragmenting-hard-disk#1TC=windows-7 Category:Browse Category:How to clean out your Computer Category:How to defragment your hard drive Latest activity Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Find videos about your topic by exploring Wikia's Video Library. Category:Browse Category:How to clean out your Computer Category:How to defragment your hard drive